Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Eqyptian pound has further to fall The Central Bank of Egypt has loosened its grip onthe pound over the past week and we think the currency probably needs to fall by at least another 5% in order to restore external competiveness... 8th July 2015 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update Kenya: Another rate hike to shore up shilling The surprise move by Kenya’s Monetary Policy Committee to hike its key interest rate by 150bp today, for the second consecutive meeting, was a signal that the new Governor is serious about curbing... 7th July 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Swedish exports to struggle despite weaker krona Sweden’s exporters are finally starting to feel the benefits of the krona’s decline over the past couple of years. But firms’ desire to widen profit margins, weak global demand and uncertainty about... 7th July 2015 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Lower dollar won't prevent further RBA rate cuts Even though the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) decided to leave interest rates on hold at 2.0% for the second month in a row today and did not provide a clear hint that more cuts lie ahead, we still... 7th July 2015 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Update Swedish exports to struggle despite weaker krona Sweden’s exporters are finally starting to feel the benefits of the krona’s decline over the past couple of years. But firms’ desire to widen profit margins, weak global demand and uncertainty about... 7th July 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Ringgit weakness to remain a constraint on policy in Malaysia The Malaysian ringgit weakened past its 1998-2005 peg level of 3.80 against the dollar today for the first time since the peg was scrapped. Today’s decline may have been triggered by concern over the... 6th July 2015 · 1 min read
UK Economics Chart Pack Recovery in real wages looks sustainable The latest labour market data provided further evidence that the recovery in wages now has momentum. Indeed, the headline (three-month average of the annual) growth rate in average weekly earnings... 3rd July 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Is there an end in sight to the export slowdown? Emerging Asia’s exports have continued to disappoint over recent months. The downturn can be explained partly by falling commodity prices and currency effects. However, weak global demand has also... 3rd July 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Greece has room to grow outside the euro The large degree of spare capacity in the Greek economy suggests that it could perform well if the constraints of fiscal austerity and a strong currency were removed via a euro-zone exit. But Greece’s... 3rd July 2015 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Weekly Would Grexit matter for Japan? With trade and direct financial ties between Japan and Europe relatively weak, the main channel through which Greek exit from the euro-zone could affect Japan is a pick-up in safe haven flows. If that... 3rd July 2015 · 1 min read
EM Valuations Monitor Valuations suggest another currency slump is unlikely Emerging market (EM) currencies were remarkably calm in June despite growing turmoil in the euro-zone. Our synthetic EM exchange rate against the dollar depreciated by 0.5% last month. But the big... 2nd July 2015 · 1 min read
Global Markets Update Sterling devaluations & UK equities – implications for Greece If Greece does abandon the euro, our expectation is that it would not be long before her stock market started to boom. This is tied to our belief that devaluation is essential to revitalise Greece’s... 2nd July 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Sweden’s Riksbank boosts stimulus to weaken krona Sweden’s central bank today stepped up its monetary policy stimulus to protect the nascent uptrend in inflation and fight the recent strengthening of the krona. But with the upward pressure on the... 2nd July 2015 · 1 min read
India Economics Update Market stability highlights improvement in external position Indian markets have been stable over the past few days, even in comparison to the muted reaction in global market to events in Greece. Looking ahead, even if the worsening situation there causes... 2nd July 2015 · 1 min read
China Economics Update Echoes of 2007 China’s equity markets ended a nerve-shredding month with a large bounce in the final hours of trading today. There are echoes of the bubble in 2007 and 2008 when prices swung wildly in both... 30th June 2015 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update Domestic factors dominate African markets This month has seen most key African currencies depreciate and key equityindices fall. But while Europe’s latest crisis may have had some marginal effect oninvestor risk sentiment, the key drivers of... 30th June 2015 · 1 min read